Photos

Tara Finn

Hara

30 October 2007

Zelizer RR

This article was about the power that images have over a situation because of the visual proof of emotions. Seeing something happen or that is happening makes it impossible to deny because there is no way to take away the atrocities. Memories of the horror are recorded through a lens that preserves history. Because of the photos taken by people during the Holocaust, those were not there are able to see how horrific it really was. The barbaric acts were shown across the world and allowed people to feel what actually happened. The suffering that was endured was horrendous to the extent of barbarianism. Photos gave a real insight to the atrocities that people, humans, had to endure. Even after people had suffered in death, pictures were taken. I think this was partly in memory of what had happened. Though it is extremely upsetting and disturbing to see dead people, who are pale and emaciated, not from death, but from living like they had to, it forces people to picture themselves in the same situation. Whether it is an individual or a community suffering, the pain is translated. Different languages may not be understood by everyone, but graphic pictures are because it is a universal language. The facelessness of the community shows the lack of the individual’s importance in the eyes of the Nazis. They even went as far as to give them numbers instead of names. To me, it does not matter which gaze or focus is used, the images that were captured were of a cruel and malignant time in history. The amount of brutality is inexcusable because it made humans look like animals, not worthy of dignity. While the Germans were depicted as evil, because of what was happening, it is not only the Germans that were doing all the horrible things.

Maus Summary#1

Tara Finn

Hara

30 October 2007

Maus RR #1

The first three chapters of Art Spiegleman’s Maus was an introduction to his father’s story and how he survived World War II, specifically the Holocaust. His dad, Vladek, was a polish Jew who survived the First World War and was drafted again to help fight against the Third Reich. In the beginning of 1938, the atmosphere in Poland drastically changed to that of hatred towards Jews. The Nazi Swastika began to show up all over Europe and troops began to organize. Jews with prosperous business were forced to sell to the Germans and were left with nothing. Riots and robberies became a standard daily occurrence against Jews. On August 28, 1939 Vladek was drafted, again. He was only trained for four days and was then sent out to fight against the Germans who invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. He was caught in the line of fire, but because he spoke German, he was spared and taken to a work camp. He did not want to kill anyone but did so ensure his life. There, they worked everyday and slept in the cold and were only fed the bare minimum. Vladek had hope and kept up his health with gymnastics and faith with daily prayers and even molded rocks to play chess. With these activities, he was able to keep sane and healthy, meaning he could stay alive. The POWs were moved to another camp that had warm beds and good food and were released months later. On the way home, Vladek who was heading back to his family was dropped off somewhere else. Germany had been spilt up into the Reich and a protectorate. Any Jew in the latter was liable to be shot for no reason. Thankfully, he knew someone who could pass as a relative. He was then able to return home but still placed under restrictions. He could not own his business and had a curfew of 7:00 p.m.

Germany’s forceful and violent takeover of Europe and extermination of all Jews created a World War II. People began to fear everyday life because the people running the government were cruel. The malignant tactics to get rid of the Jews started in Poland because it was easily accessible and much of the population was Jewish. Those who were spared, were put through hell to help the Germans and to be worked to death. It seems that soldiers on both sides did not want to kill the enemy but rather they were forced to because the countries were at a war of ideals. The Arians were supposed to be ruling all of Europe, not the Jews. They were supposed to be compliant of all their property being stolen and their families being taken away. The white race did not necessarily want to take over, but were brainwashed into thinking that they were the superior race. There are of course those who aided the Jews because they realized that was happening was sick and twisted and that no one deserved to be treated like that. What I have always questioned is the lack of other country’s support of those under persecution. Why did not the United States, England, or France or any other developed country that was able to help, not? It seemed that those who were Jewish and in Eastern Europe were doomed because of the power surge that barbaric Hitler went on in the late 1930 and into the mid 1940s. Poland, the most effected country was forced to comply with most of Germany’s demands because of the proximity and power in numbers that the Hitler’s army had over the Poles. Yet, they fought their best and thought they lost many people, there are those like Vladek who remained loyal in defending their country.

Stackelbergs reading/vocab

Tara Finn

Hara

25 October 2007

RR #2

The Stackelberg reading on Hitler’s Germany described the atrocities that Jews were put through before and during the war. Even though the Jews only made up ¾ of one percent of Germany’s total population, Hitler, in his Third Reich, wanted to find a “solution” to the Jewish problem. It started with the Enabling Act of 1939 to restrict Jews from land and livestock. Soon, lawyers and doctors could not longer practice and businesses were transferred to non-Jews. There was much debate over those who had only one or two grandparents of Jewish descent and whether they should be counted as aliens. Jews were also restricted to movies, pools, and parks, limiting them to their own places to worship. People over six had to wear a Star of David, so that they could be identified. Germany supported Zionism because that way, the Jews would not be in Germany, they would have their own state. With the start of the war in Poland on September 1, 1939, Jews were no longer considered German at all. It is then that the barbaric acts really began. The solutions were ghettos and concentration camps. Not only were men, women, and children killed, those were not from Arian background were as well. The discovery of a quicker way to exterminate people and get rid of their bodies was the gas chamber that brutally and inhumanely massacred hundreds of people at a time; either with carbon monoxide or Cyclone B. What the Germans did to their own people, who followed different beliefs, was not only gruesome it was animalistic and was not stopped by anyone. It took a World War II to finally stop the mass killings in Germany, Poland, the Soviet Union, and many other European countries. The Nazi’s sick and twisted view of the perfect race killed more people then any other war in world history. It is much like today’s genocide in Sudan. It seems that no country is doing enough to help those who are unfairly killed. Whether it is because of other conflicts or not, countries should not be afraid to protect others when something as wrong as this is happening. One would think we would have learned from the first genocide.

The Comic vocabulary was about the explanation of icons and how style can distract or enhance the visual appeal. Words are abstract icons that we automatically associate with certain sounds. Icons can beliefs, like a cross, or ideas, like a heart. We as humans are all self -involved and try picture ourselves in most situation like others see us. His example was if we smile how do we know if we smiled? Yes, we feel our cheeks squint and our eyes become smaller, but how do other see it. It is an icon of happiness to others. Icons are like symbols but can include cartoons and sounds that are familiar.

Stackelberg